Monday's Mentionables: It's a Hometown Heroes Week!

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm thrilled that it's release week for Inferno of Love - TOMORROW is the big day! And just in time, you can see a sneak peek in the trailer:



If you didn't have a chance to read Beacon of Love, the first book in the Hometown Heroes series, it's not too late to pick it up. Just yesterday the book received a beautiful 5-star review on Amazon that took my breath away:

"Such an addictive read. I was drawn into the story immediately and couldn't put it down. Those that love mysteries, set in small towns, are going to love this book. Beacon of Love is filled with loveable characters, romance, mystery and all the right elements to make it a great read. This was the perfect read for the miserable weather we're currently experiencing in my area. Nothing like curling up with a great book on a rainy day."

Thank you so much! I love my readers!

Writers' Wednesday: My Experiment with Perma-Free

"A beautifully original story. Loved the characters. I picked it up as a free book. But it would be worth the money. I would love to find a place like Paradise. So well written you can feel yourself standing among the story unfolding. Wonderfully heartwarming love story. Highly recommended."

For indie authors, making a book "perma-free" is one of many marketing options. Basically this means offering a book for free, indefinitely. Ideally it's one in a series, so if readers like the story, they will go out and spend money on the others in the series.

For a while, I wasn't sure what I thought about this concept – I mean, we work hard on our books! I didn't know if I wanted to just give a title away. But The Promise of Paradise has been out for a year now, and done relatively well sales-wise, so I thought I'd give it a try. First off, though, you can't just set a book's price to $0.00 on Amazon (if you participate in the Amazon KDP program, you can offer your book for free for 5 days every 3 months, but I wanted to see what would happen for a longer period of time). So you have to "price match," which basically means making it free in other sales channels (like Smashwords, the popular website for indie authors) and then hope once sites like Barnes and Noble or Sony make it free, Amazon will follow suit.

It took about a week, but Amazon did finally make The Promise of Paradise free. This happened one week ago Tuesday. Within a day, it was climbing some of Amazon's "Top Free" lists, and by Thursday it was #1 in Women's Fiction and Romance. I think it got as high as #45 on the Top Free overall list. Not bad, especially since I didn't do a whole lot of marketing besides tweeting and posting on Facebook about it.

BookBub, a popular email subscription service authors can pay to have their titles listed with, gives a range of 21,000 for Contemporary Romance downloads and 14,000 for Women's Fiction downloads if you advertise with them. In the week it's been free, I've had just over 8000 downloads of The Promise of Paradise, so I'm pretty happy with that (since I've spent $0 on advertising it). Beyond that, I've sold an additional 30 books of Beacon of Love, my other new title, and I attribute those sales to the free downloads, since I do have an excerpt in the back of The Promise of Paradise and tell readers that they'll see a familiar character in Beacon of Love.

Another plus: I've gotten 4 new 5-star reviews on Amazon, which is terrific. That means that The Promise of Paradise is getting to people who have never read anything by me before and will hopefully want to read more.

It turns out the perma-free thing has more benefits than I would have thought. Certainly sales of my other books aren't through the roof, but they've definitely picked up. I'm reaching new readers. And I'm still in the Top 10 of both Free lists in Women's Fiction and Romance, which means many Amazon customers are seeing the title when they're browsing those categories. The fun thing is that I have control over all of this – another plus when it comes to indie publishing! 

Monday Mentionables: New Reviews and a Book Club!

Happy Monday, everyone! What's worth mentioning today? Well, let's see...

There's a lovely new 5-star review of Beacon of Love posted over at Sinfully Tasty Reads :) Big thanks to Debbie who said, "This was the perfect mix of romance meets classic who done it...I loved the chemistry between Sophie and Lucas. They just had a connection right from the start and loved it as the relationship developed. "

I attended a book club yesterday where The Promise of Paradise was the featured read and had a great time chatting about books and reading with the women there. Among the things discussed were that they LOVE series (good thing I have 2 coming out this year!), they love detail when it comes to character and setting, and they will definitely ask questions about a character's back-story and which character is getting his or her own story next. I always love hearing what other people enjoy reading and why they enjoy it.

One more week until the release of Inferno of Love! Don't forget that you can get a peek at Smashwords, where's it up for pre-order AND you can read the opening chapters for free!

Friday Fun Facts: Free & Upcoming Books!

Happy Friday! It's been a pretty exciting week in my writing world. Why? Here's the skinny in case you don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter:

The Promise of Paradise is FREE on Kindle (and Nook) right now, and between Tuesday and Thursday it went to the top of Amazon's free lists in both Women's Fiction and Romance! It's slipped a little since then, but I made sure to take a screen shot of when it was at #1:

It's always tough to tell if free downloads translate into sales of other titles, but hey, I figure that there are a few thousand people with my book on their Kindle who didn't have it before, so we'll be optimistic and hope that once they read the book, they'll love it and want to read more!

Also, Inferno of Love is now available for pre-order at Smashwords! It will officially release on March 18, but you can reserve yours on sale anytime between now and then. You can read the blurb and find out more by clicking here.

Have a great weekend!

Writers' Wednesday: Promo Sites!

Hey gang, it's a busy week here (Inferno of Love will be available for pre-order soon!) but I wanted to share a couple of promo sites with authors:

Ebook Soda - brand new email subscription service, similar to BookBub, and they're brand new so right now there's no charge to place a book ad with them!

A Girl and Her Kindle - she'll be reviewing Beacon of Love later this week, and she's gotten favorable feedback from other authors I respect, so check out her site for relatively inexpensive social media exposure.

Digital Book Today - has been around a while and although I haven't seen HUGE bumps when I run ads with them, they're reputable and have a lot of viewers, which is always a good thing.

There are many, many others of course, but I always like to share the newer ones I've come across. Happy writing!

Friday Fun Facts: Brrrrrrr!!!

Are you ready for Old Man Winter to give it a rest yet? Just when we thought we might be in the clear, the temperatures here in the Hudson Valley, NY, have dipped below zero yet again AND there's a storm coming our way Sunday. Enough! We still have over a foot of snow on the ground, and that's not even talking about the banks that have been snowplowed along the side of the road or in parking lots. Ten feet tall easily! It's a challenge to even go to the store today, because you don't know whether you'll find a parking spot.

With all that in mind, don't forget that an escape to a summer climate, to a seaside coast, is the perfect way to chase the winter blues away. The Promise of Paradise is all about summer heat in a small town, as is Beacon of Love. Guess I have a common theme of wanting to be warm! (in more ways than one)

And for those of you who are writers (or who are interested), Beacon of Love is just one little Amazon review away from 10, which is the magic number for some of the bigger marketing and promotion sites. I'd love to see that 10th review :) If you read the book and liked it, would you share your thoughts!

Thanks, happy Friday, and STAY WARM!!

Writers' Wednesday: Enter to Win a Signed Copy of a Hometown Heroes Book!

Hey readers! Today you can enter to win a signed print copy of either Beacon of Love OR Inferno of Love (this is a pre-release copy; you'll see it before the general reading public)! I'm giving away 2 copies of each book to lucky winners over at Goodreads. It's super-easy to enter, as long as you're a member.

This is the last week that Beacon of Love will be on sale for only $0.99, so grab your copy if you haven't had a chance yet. And remember, one of the loveliest things you can do for writers you enjoy is to leave them a review ;)

Have a great day!

Friday Fun Facts: The Hometown Heroes Series is Here!

TGIF! Of course, it's kind of a weird Friday here in New York, since we had Presidents' Weekend last week, combined with 2 extra snow days on either end, so for those of us who are teachers, we just got back to school and now we have a weekend again! Sure, sure, snow days SOUND good, but after awhile it just becomes clearing snow and sitting inside and thinking about how you're going to catch up and teach everything in the days that remain.

But anyway...

Have you gotten your copy of Beacon of Love over at Amazon? If you've already read the story of Sophie and Lucas, I hope you'll consider leaving a review on its new Amazon page. Readers love reviews for discovering potential new authors :)

It's also probably not to soon to mention that the sequel to this story, Inferno of Love, will release in just about a month, and I'm soooo excited for that one! It will be available on Kindle, Nook, and in print as well, so you can get whichever version works best for you. To whet your appetite, here's a link to the Tour Page over at Black Lion, which features the blurb and a short excerpt. Enjoy!

Writers' Wednesday: Beacon of Love is Now Available!

Woo hoo! I'm super excited to share the news that Beacon of Love, the first book in the Hometown Heroes series, is now available on Amazon's Kindle for the sale price of only $0.99! Now through the end of the month, you can pick up this story and re-familiarize yourself with Sophie, Lucas, and the town of Lindsey Point and its haunted lighthouse. Don't worry - it will also be available at Barnes & Noble, Sony, and iTunes shortly too. I'll make sure to share those links :)

If you already read (and enjoyed) Beacon of Love when it originally released last year, I would love for you to leave a review on Amazon. Reviews drive sales, and I'd love the re-release of this story to have a nice bump before the brand new, never-before-released sequel, Inferno of Love, comes out next month!

Thank You!

Friday Fun Facts: Pre-Order Beacon of Love Now!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Just in time for this lovers' holiday, you can pre-order Beacon of Love for the super-low re-release price of $0.99! Smashwords is featuring the pre-order, and it should soon be up on Barnes & Noble as well.

In other news, I'm going away for the long weekend to a place that has more snow....yes, more than is in my front yard, which after yesterday is about 2 feet. It's a Presidents' Weekend snowy getaway, and while the people I'm with will probably be doing all kinds of outdoor winter activities, I'm hoping to stay inside and get some writing done. No Internet or TV, so at least I won't have those distractions.

I'm hoping it will be cozy and quiet, more like The Holiday

and less like, well, The Shining

(not like I'm going away with a madman or anything, just that I'll be in an isolated hotel in the middle of a snowstorm).

Here's to getting a lot of new words written on a new book ~ I"ll give you the update next week!

Writers' Wednesday: The Re-Release of Beacon of Love is 1 Week Away!

Hello readers! I'm thrilled to let you know that the re-release of Beacon of Love is happening next week, so that means if you didn't get around to reading it last year when it came out, you'll soon be able to! Even better, for the month of February, it will be on sale for only $.99 - less than a cup of coffee! Want to know what readers thought of it? Reviews over on Goodreads if you're interested.

For writers, here are a couple of links to share with you today, courtesy of BookBaby. The first is a blog post about where to post your free/sale ebooks (always helpful info!) and the second is a pointed article about how to use - and not use - social media to your advantage when you're first releasing a book. Good stuff!

Now, to bunker down and prepare for the snow....more snow....always more snow....

Monday Mentionables: Why I'm Not Watching the Winter Olympics

"Be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Today's post admittedly has little to do with writing or my books that are releasing shortly, but I felt the need to vent today. So bear with me.

I am not watching the 2014 Winter Olympics this year. I have the feeling I am in the minority when it comes to this decision, being a person who would normally enjoy watching the opening ceremony and cheering for the figure skaters and oohing and aahing over the ski jumpers and rooting on the speed skaters and hockey teams. But this year, in the wake of not only the whole stray dog-killing scandal but also Russia's blatant anti-gay legislation, I feel that I can't watch the competition when it is supported, organized, and marketed by a country that goes against two of my greatest beliefs.

I know what I stand for. Human rights and the equal treatment of human beings, and ethical treatment of animals, are two of the biggest. I also know that my watching, or not watching, the Olympics as a single viewer will have little effect on the event as a whole. I also know that the athletes are not the ones to blame, and that their performance and preparation should have nothing to do with the political beliefs or practices of the country in which the competition happens to take place this year.

But, finally, I also know that I could not, in good faith, be a role model for my students, my friends, or my community members, or be the kind of person I want to be, if I did not stand up for my beliefs. I believe we should all be true to ourselves, whatever that means to us. That is why I decided to publish my Hometown Heroes as an indie publisher, (haha - got a writing reference in after all!) why I write sex scenes that take place behind closed doors, and, finally, why I will not be watching the Winter Olympics.

To each her own. Have a great Monday, friends.

Friday Fun Facts: Come Visit Lindsey Point With Me!

BEACON OF LOVE is releasing this month!

Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends. Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. 

When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history. Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa... Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. 

Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her. But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.

*****

So I was thinking the other day, wouldn't it be neat if my readers could virtually "visit" the town of Lindsey Point before they read the stories of Lucas and Sophie and Finn and Aubrey? I've been playing around with this for a few days...nothing fancy, just fun. Just click on the book cover above, then select your full screen option (lower right corner of the presentation screen). To move from spot to spot, just click on the arrows at the bottom of the screen. Please let me know what you think!

Writers' Wednesday: Sharing my Shiny Cover for Beacon of Love!

Ta daa! Here's my beautiful new cover for Beacon of Love! Don't you just love it?! Thanks to the talented Amy Gamet for designing it. This book will be re-released (at a super-discounted price) later this month, so stay tuned!

Also, I've been playing around with a cool way for you to "visit" the town of Lindsey Point before you even open the cover of the book. I'll be sharing that virtual visit too. Now....off to watch the snow fall!

Monday Mentionables: Design Updates

Well, if you're here reading my blog, you'll probably notice a change in its design. My very talented web designer, Jo of Glass Slipper Web Design, updated not only my blog but my website AND the header for my Facebook page. I think they're gorgeous! She used the cover of the super-sensual The Promise of Paradise cover as a model, and I think it matches the tone of my books terrifically. What do you think of the new look?

Plus, if you haven't yet signed up for my newsletter, make sure you do that while you're over at my website. I'll have 2 releases coming up in the next couple of months, and I want to make sure all my readers know when they'll be available! Stay tuned for the beautiful new cover of Beacon of Love, as well!

Friday Fun Facts: Why I Decided to Indie Publish (This Time)

Update to Monday's post...

After a whole lot of deliberation, going back and forth, talking to a lot of authors at different points in their writing careers, I've decided not to sign with Lyrical/Kensington. Instead, I'm keeping the rights to both Beacon of Love and Inferno of Love, and I'll release those myself.

Yes, it seems a little crazy in the abstract: I turned down contracts for 2 books from a NY publisher. For a writer who's spent years dreaming of being offered a dream contract with a traditional publisher, that seems like the craziest decision I could ever make. There were actually a lot of reasons I decided to go with indie published, though, and while I am not by any stretch of the imagination a household name or a regular best-selling author, I have enough experience with publishing, and enough readers, that I decided I wanted to keep the control and the profits for myself. Of course this is a risk; an established NY publisher can offer a lot to an author...IF they put the funds and the marketing behind that author.

Today, things are shifting in the publishing world. Authors are realizing that they don't NEED publishers to sell their books, to market to online readers or to build their following. In fact, a lot of the marketing that NY publishers do for their digital titles are things that indie authors can do themselves. Quite a few established authors are also releasing their agents, because they don't need to give 15% of their royalties to someone else in order to secure publishing contracts. Authors can sell more, and make more, through their own efforts.

If you really want to be wowed, read this post by Brenna Aubrey and this post by Matthew Mather.

This is not a rah-rah blog post saying that everyone should self-publish their own books. It is a lot of work, it requires an investment up front, and some self-published genres (like romance) sell better than others. I have decided to publish my own books, at least for the time being, and primarily to the digital market. That doesn't mean that I won't consider seeking out an agent or a traditional publisher in the future. It DOES mean that Beacon of Love will soon be available as a re-release and with a beautiful new cover in the next couple of weeks  AND that its sequel, Inferno of Love, will be available in early spring as well!

Stay tuned!

Monday Mentionables: Why Authors Rock

Ok, here's the thing: authors rock. And I don't mean they rock because they bleed plot lines and sweat character arcs and generally suffer in a very solitary manner to produce stories that readers may or may not decide to buy.

They rock because they help each other out.

In the 7+ years I've been bouncing around this industry, trying to find my feet and figure out the ins and outs of the publishing world, I have had the good fortune to come in contact with authors from around the world, in all genres and from all backgrounds, and they have inevitably given of themselves to help me (and others) negotiate the twists and turns in the road.

Never has this been more true than over the past weekend, when I was (still am) struggling with my decision whether or not to sign 2 contracts with Kensington or venture out on my own and publish those titles independently. You would think this would be a relatively painless decision. I mean, I'm not a newbie. I know what things to look out for, what things to consider...but it's still a tough call. There are pros and cons on both sides. So when I reached out to other authors for their advice, some of whom I knew personally, most of whom I didn't, the response was stunning.

In an eight hour period, no fewer than 20 authors responded - some on the author loop where I had posted my questions, more through my email account. They were new authors and seasoned authors, NY Times best-selling authors, those published with big name publishers and those who'd taken their rights back and published themselves, and just about everything in between. And they were, every one of them, sincere and genuine and open and honest with their advice. They told me what they'd experienced. They gave me numbers. They gave me concrete examples. They wrote with lots of exclamation points and ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, and at the end, every one of them wished me well with whatever decision I ultimately made.

Where else can you get support like that? I am truly happy to be a part of such a giving group of professionals. Now....when I finally decide what I'm going to do with those titles, I'll let you know!

Friday Fun Facts: Thanking my Awesome Beta Readers

As I promised, today I wanted to thank the beta readers who've been invaluable in reading over my Works-in-Progress over the last few years. As any writer knows, bouncing ideas off other writers, and sharing your baby with them before it goes out into the publishing world, can help improve the work incredibly. Outside readers have the ability to see things you can't, to ask questions that never occurred to you, and to point out all those "oops" in your stories, whether it's missing words or comma errors or huge plot holes.

A big THANK YOU to my faithful readers (please visit their website and support them too!)

Liz Matis, spicy sports romance author and indie publishing whiz

Janet Walters, founding member of my local RWA chapter and an incredibly prolific writer in almost every romance sub-genre

Cynthia Borris, who writes great romantic humor and who I "met" virtually years ago. We live on opposite coasts and have met in person exactly once :)

And dear friends Yolanda Sly and Tamara D., who unfailingly read my manuscripts, work full-time jobs, and still find time to meet for Starbucks or pedicures.

Writers, who's in your support network?

Writers' Wednesday: A Shout-Out to my Writing Support System

Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit. At the heart of it, it's you and the pen (or the keyboard). It's you sitting down by yourself to muddle through the story line and shape the plot and the characters.

But publishing requires a great deal of support, and while that journey is yours alone too, it is usually helped along the way by a variety of people. Today, a shout-out to the people who have supported me and been my resources along the way. If you're looking for any professional services, I recommend all of these:

Jo at Glass Slipper Web Design, who's currently in the process of re-creating a brand new website and "look" for me. She's been terrific to work with these last 5 years, reasonably priced and always doing whatever updates I needed within 24-48 hours.

Karen Dale Harris, my editor for Inferno of Love. She does terrific free-lance editing and, to my pleasant surprise, drops me emails every now and again to see how my writing is going and to share news about the industry. Highly recommended if you need an editor!

Amy Gamet, who designed my cover for Inferno of Love. Also easy and friendly to work with, with very competitive cover design rates.

Jesse Gordon, my e-book formatter. If you need something formatted into ANY file at all, with a quick turn-around and great rates, contact him.

Maria @ My Author Concierge - This is going to be a preemptive shout-out, because we just started working together. But I'm excited to have a virtual assistant who's going to help me organize my promo calendar, help with my releases, and be my all-around go-to person for professional contacts!

And my beta readers...but that thank-you comes on Friday. They get a blog post all to themselves, for being such terrific friends and support systems throughout my writing journey. Here's to 2014!

Monday Mentionables: Working on Author Brand

One of my goals for 2014 is to sharpen, and perhaps recreate, my author brand.

Your what?

Branding is a key component to any successful business. We all recognize McDonald's golden arches, or the Starbucks lady inside the green circle, or the silver Jaguar hood ornament. We know in an instant what we'll get for our money. Author branding does the same thing. It makes a promise to the reader about what kind of story you'll get if you pick up a title by any particular author. It's necessary for success - and it's also bloody challenging.

When I first started writing, I just wanted to write. I wanted to tell stories. I had a vague sense of what kinds of characters and settings drew me in: contemporary, male-female, PG-13 or maybe R rated. My first 3 "One Night" books had the added instant brand of being "24-hour romances" which was kind of unique at the time. But beyond that, I'm painfully aware that I do not have a precise brand associated with my name. That is one of my goals this year, to try and address that.

Branding requires you to take a close look at what you write, what you offer the reading public and how you want to be known. And in this world of online everything, your social media presence has to reinforce that brand as well. I'm still in the early stages of trying to figure this process out, but one thing I know that I love to write is small-town romance. With the exception of my "One Night" novels (and honestly, One Night in Napa would probably fall into this small-town genre as well), all my stories are set in small towns. This, of course, is no coincidence. I grew up in a small town. I currently live in a small town. I've lived in big cities, and I've traveled all over the world, but I always come back to the comfort and safety and sense of community that a small town offers. I love writing about those quirkish characters, the secrets a town can hold and the way the people there know you and your family almost better than you know yourself.

So I'm thinking that perhaps the idea of spicy small town romances might be my brand. If you've read my books, what do you think? I'm trying to come up with a tagline that will play into this idea. Here are a few I'm tossing around...please throw in your suggestions as well!

Allie Boniface:

Where small town meets spice...

Soul mates...secrets...spice...welcome to Small Town, USA!

Explore the secrets of small town life...

Small towns...full of secrets and spice!

Where small towns are full of secrets and spice...

Friday Fun Facts: Knowing You've "Arrived"

Today's post title is a little facetious - I'm not sure one ever knows if one has "arrived" in a business, unless you win an Oscar or are elected President or something. But in talking about writing, it's interesting to think about milestones, and how we know whether we've "arrived" as a writer.

Does it mean we finish writing a book? Or that we sign with an agent? Maybe we "arrive" when the book is finally published, and others can buy it. Does it need to be in print, or is e-book enough these days? Maybe you haven't really "arrived" until you hit the New York Times best-selling list, or your book is made into a movie. Or until you're a household name.

For me, it has been a series of milestones, and each time I meet a new one, I feel another giddy sense of "arrival." The first time was when I signed a contract in 2007 for One Night in Boston, my very first book, with Samhain Publishing. The next was when I received my print copies of that book in the mail.

The next big moment of "arrival" was finding Summer's Song on the shelves in a Borders in NYC - that remains a highlight of my career. I also had the chance to be interviewed on a Portuguese news channel when Kindles first came out - that was pretty cool. I was invited to a women's luncheon for authors who had influenced readers. I went to Las Vegas for the EPPIE Awards, for One Night in Memphis, in 2009. A reader from the Czech Republic wrote a fan letter and asked if I'd send her a bookmark.

And yesterday, I reached two more mini-milestones that made me think, "huh, maybe I've arrived in this industry." A local book club, Between the Covers, chose The Promise of Paradise as their March read, and I decided to hire myself a virtual assistant to try and organize my writing and marketing life this year. (More on this later - virtual assistants may sound fancy and high-falutin', but they're quite affordable)

I guess what I mean to share with all this is not only the twisty road that my writing life has taken, but also that we as writers should celebrate ALL the milestones along the way, that there isn't one "moment" that means we've arrived as a writer. As I know from first-hand experience, around another bend can be something that knocks you flat on your face. I've had editors leave, publishing houses fold, manuscripts rejected more times than I can count. It's how we pick ourselves up that really matters. We've "arrived" when we decide we have, plain and simple. Don't let others dictate the measurement of your success .

Happy writing!

Monday Mentionables: Why I Love Small Towns

It's no secret that many of the novels I write are set in small towns: The Promise of Paradise, Summer's Song, Beacon of Love. And while part of me considers myself a "city girl," in love with the bustle and opportunity and endless restaurant and theater choices of big cities, there is also something safe and soothing about life in a sleepy small town.

This is a blog post I wrote a while ago about the town I grew up in.

This is the town I live in now. It is approximately 25 square miles in size and home to about 7,000 people. It has both a state and a federal correctional facility inside its borders, and it also has a train station that will take you to NYC in a little over an hour. It was also just named fifth safest on the list of "Safest Places to Live in New York State."

But Mount Hope is also currently facing a situation of internal town, and without going into detail, it's been very interesting over the last few weeks to watch the townspeople rally together to save a historic building. This town is small, it's in the middle of nowhere, it may be backwards in some of its thinking and practices, but it also has roots in farming families that go back generations. It has a hardware store where the workers know exactly where every single item is, aisle and shelf. It also has the claim to fame of being the site of one of the most famous sanatoriums from the early 20th century (this was the place to come if you had tuberculosis, to let the pure mountain air heal you). In fact, Ernest Hemingway's earliest love, Agnes von Kurowsky, the nurse he fell in love with in an Italian hospital, worked at the sanatorium after she left Italy (and broke poor Ernest's heart). And here's a funny historic detail for you: the road I live on still goes by "Sanatorium Road" on the electric company's records, though it was changed years ago.

This is not a metropolis by any stretch of the imagination, and there isn't a whole lot of diversity in many of the people who live here. But most days, I will take the sleepy hillsides, the spotty wi-fi service, and the tiny grocery store with its limited shelves of goods. Mount Hope has heart and good people. And that's why I love small towns.

Look out for the Hometown Hero series this year, Beacon of Love this spring and Inferno of Love later in 2014....because along with charm and safety, there are also passionate secrets in the small town of Lindsey Point, just like Mount Hope and a thousand other small towns in this big, beautiful country of ours.

Writers' Wednesday: Highlights from the February Writer's Digest

Hey, writers! Writer's Digest is a fantastic magazine resource for all authors, aspiring and best-selling, in all genres. Here's a rundown of the articles in the February 2014 issue, which arrived in my mailbox yesterday:

"Sizing up Small Presses" talks about the advantages of signing with a small press rather than a bigger, more traditional publisher. Among those advantages are closer communication with all staff at the press, including your editor, your cover artist, and many times even the owner of the press itself. (I can vouch for this one)

"What Writers Need to Know about the E-book Market" is an interesting read about how e-books have changed book distribution, marketing, pricing, contracts, and author-agent relationships. (I can vouch for this one too.) The fact that e-books are wildly popular, cheap, available at your fingertips in the stroke of a key or two, and easily produced by almost anyone, has both advantages and disadvantages for the market - but it's definitely changed how authors can get their stories into the hands of readers. One thing for writers to keep in mind: if you're looking for an agent to represent you in the e-book market, do your research carefully. Some agents are much more comfortable, experienced, and savvy that others in the e-book world.

Finally, "Best of Both Worlds" discusses the possibility of being a "hybrid" author; that is, publishing some stories in traditional channels and publishing others on your own. Indie publishing gives authors much more control over the whole product, from production to pricing, while it also incurs more risk and financial investment. Traditional publishing assumes that risk and can often put books in front of a wider audience of readers (especially in brick-and-mortar bookstores) but can dig in its heels when it comes to non-traditional titles, genres, or lengths. It also takes A LOT LONGER to publish a story through traditional channels. So why not do both? It's definitely something I've been thinking about over the last few weeks.

Check out more writing info, or get your own subscription, over at the Writer's Digest website. Happy writing!

Monday Mentionable: Kensington Acquires Lyrical Press....Meaning What, Exactly?

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and ate and drank appropriate amounts of holiday food while laughing with friends and family. Can you believe it's 2014? Well, two days into this new year, I got some interesting news from the publisher of my recent novel, Beacon of Love. Lyrical Press was acquired by Kensington, a well-known, well-established New York publishing house. (Here's the full press release.) Why? Well, advantages to Kensington would seem to be a backlist of 200+ romance titles and authors, as well a Managing Director who's spent the last 7 years running a digital press. I think New York houses are finally coming around and realizing the potential of the e-book market. The advantages for Lyrical are the chance for some of its staff and authors to join a larger publishing company which has wide-spread, well-established resources for sales and marketing.

What does this mean in the big picture? All Lyrical authors have the option to sign a new contract with Kensington, putting our previously-released books into Kensington sales channels. Lyrical will remain a romance imprint under Kensington, releasing new works digitally and longer (full-length, at least 60K words) works in Print-on-Demand as well. Royalties are competitive with other digital presses, as far as I can tell. Or authors can choose not to sign, and to keep our rights to those books published with Lyrical - we could perhaps contract them with other publishers or potentially publish them ourselves.

What does this mean for me personally? As of right now, Beacon of Love is no longer currently for sale. If I sign with Kensington, it will be re-released within the next few months. This also means, however, that until I decide what I'm doing with Beacon of Love, I won't be publishing Inferno of Love this month, as I had originally intended. (I'm sorry, I'm sorry....I know some of you were waiting for it!). Don't worry - it WILL come out, I promise! And I'll keep you posted on both stories and where you can find them in the next few months.

Tentatively, I can say that I'm excited about this chance to sign with a New York publishing house. While I enjoyed indie publishing The Promise of Paradise, and will probably indie publish again in the future, it's hard work to do so, folks - especially when I have a full-time teaching job that consumes my days as well. And to be honest, being able to say that I'm a Kensington/ New York author is a big feather in my cap, one I've been dreaming of since I first started this publishing journey.

I'll keep you posted every step of the way. I have to say, it's been a pretty exciting start to 2014 so far!

Monday Mentionables: Reindeer Sing White Christmas

Two more shopping days until Christmas! Are you ready? In honor of the holiday, I'm sharing one of my favorite videos from this time of year. Enjoy :)

Friday: Two More Excerpts for You!

Since it's the final day of my cover reveal tour through Black Lion Tours, I thought I'd share 2 more short excerpts with you from Inferno of Love, releasing in January 2014!

A flash of memory hit Finn in the gut, he and Aubrey sitting on the Bradleys’ back porch and watching a meteor shower. Make a wish, she’d said the first time they saw one shoot across the sky, and he’d given it his number one wish, the biggest he could think of, not knowing there would be twenty more by the time the shower finished. 

I wish I could marry this woman, he’d said to the sky. Marry her and have kids with her and live in a place like this someday. 

The Bradleys’ cedar deck spread out before them, three levels leading down to a heated in-ground pool, and he knew it had been silly to want something so extravagant. But sitting next to Aubrey, listening to her talk about all the places they might go someday, he’d believed it possible. He’d believed anything possible with her, even that the son of a dirt-poor steel worker and a pill-addicted homemaker could marry a brilliant, Boston-bred girl and make her happy...

“Mmm...” Honey began humming again. Aubrey’s face grew hot, and she wriggled in the chair to try and find a comfortable position. “Count backwards from fifty,” Honey said. “Slowly.”

Aubrey wet her lips. “Uh, okay. Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight...” When she reached one, she kept her eyes closed and waited.

“All right, you’re standing next to a car you know well. You’ve ridden in it lots of times before. Your boyfriend is beside you, opening the door. What do you see?’

She screwed up her forehead and concentrated. “Nothing.”

“Relax. Don’t force yourself to remember anything in particular. Just think of him next to you. His cologne. His smile. It’s dark, right? It’s nighttime.” Honey paused. “What else is there?”

“A gravel parking lot,” Aubrey said before she realized it. “There are lots of cars, but everyone else is inside. No one else is out there, just us. Aaron’s trying to hold my hand. He keeps asking me to get inside his car.” Her fingers dug into the padded arms of the chair.

“Mm hmm. Good. What else?”

“I don’t want to go with him. I keep looking over my shoulder, toward the restaurant.” What was she looking for? Who was she looking for? Then she saw him – the figure from her dreams, the tall, thin, silent man. He stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, watching her. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew him. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was someone she’d met that summer. In Lindsey Point? At the Cove? Her head ached with the effort of trying to remember... 

Writers' Wednesday: We Need Some Heat!

Brrr!! It's awfully cold in my neck of the woods. We got hit with 2 back to back storms in the last week, and we have about a foot of white stuff on the ground out there. One of my kitties doesn't mind, though - she's ready for Christmas!

In other news, Black Lion Tours is hosting a cover reveal tour for me this week, sharing my gorgeous cover for Inferno of Love in a bunch of places all around the web. You can win a copy of the first book in the series, Beacon of Love, too, if you visit any of the participating host blogs. Here are yesterday's sites; please drop by and give them some love!

http://markedbybooks.blogspot.com/2013/12/inferno-of-love-blog-tour-hometown.html

http://www.iknowthatbook.blogspot.com.ar/2013/12/cover-reveal-inferno-of-love-by-allie.html

http://www.thestuffofsuccess.com/2013/12/cover-reveal-inferno-of-love-by-allie.html

And if you want to know what's in store in Inferno of Love, here's a brand new mini-excerpt to add some heat to your day. Enjoy!

She closed her eyes as he rained kisses along her collarbone. Words mixed up inside her head, words like yes and why and this is how. The synapses in her brain sizzled, connections there, then pulling apart, then gone. She breathed him in, loving the scents of soap and aftershave mixing with bleach from downstairs and above it all, the Lindsey Point air. Saltwater and pine. Yummy...

Friday Fun Facts: Join Me for a Blog Tour!

Happy Friday! I'm excited today because IMG Tours is sponsoring a cover reveal tour for Inferno of Love, due out in mid-January ~ and you'll have a chance to win goodies if you visit the blogs who are kind enough to host me today.

I'll be posting the blog links all day long, over at my Facebook page, so if you haven't yet liked me over there, please join me today. And in addition to the IMG tour giveaway, I'm throwing an Amazon gift card into the mix for anyone who comments on my Facebook page today about the tour.

Hope to see you there!

Writers' Wednesday: What's on Your Wish List?

'Tis the season to be wishing for gifts under the tree, which leads me to ask: what books are on your Wish List this year? What are you reading right now, and what would you like to be reading in the new year? I'd love some good recommendations, by the way.

And...in this world of technology, how many of you are wishing for old-fashioned books on Christmas morning? Or is an e-reader on your list? Maybe a few ebooks to load up your Kindle? Or a gift card to your favorite online bookstore?

Monday Mentionables: The Allure of Audio Books

In the most recent issue of Romance Writers Report, one of the articles discusses the audio book market - specifically for authors. I will echo the sentiments in that article and say that if you're not taking advantage of that market as a writer, you're missing out.

Audio books may not be huge sellers, compared to print or ebooks, but they have a steady audience, and with the ease of downloading files today, I think that audience will only grow. Today, if you're signing a contract with a publisher, consider trying to keep your audio rights for yourself. In my experience, most small presses will take those rights but probably won't use them. I was lucky; Samhain never took  my audio rights, so when the up-and-coming company Audio Lark was looking for new authors, I was able to sell my books to them. In the last year, Audio Lark has stopped producing audio books, but 4 of my books produced through them are up and available on Audible (the biggest seller of audio books, an affiliate of Amazon), and I still receive royalty payments from them every quarter.

Today, ACX provides indie authors with a super-easy way to produce their books in the audio market. All you have to do is sign up and post your project. You'll have to provide a script for potential narrators, and then you'll need to audition narrators and decide who sounds best. This is a crucial step! Make sure to take your time and choose someone whose voice matches the tone and content of your book. Also make sure the audition tape is professionally produced.

You have 2 choices when it comes to ACX: you can pay your narrator upfront (probably at least a few hundred dollars for a full-length novel), or you can opt for 50-50 royalty-sharing, which means you split all royalties but you pay nothing upfront.

Hearing your book spoken out loud is a crazy and wonderful experience. Being able to earn royalties on it is even better. If you haven't yet explored the possibility of turning your books into audio books, now's the time to do so! (And if you want to check out my audio books, here's my page at Audible. Please consider giving one a try - you can listen to free samples of each one!)

Writers' Wednesday: Setting Goals for 2014

Can you believe it's December already? In another few weeks, we'll be saying goodbye to 2013. For me, it was an exciting year in my writing. I released my very first indie title, The Promise of Paradise, I released the first Hometown Heroes story Beacon of Love, and I wrote the second Hometown Heroes story which will be coming out in early 2014, Inferno of Love.

(By the way, if you have a blog and would like to host, both Black Lion Tours and IMG Blog Tours are scheduling cover reveal tours for Inferno of Love for mid-December. There are giveaways to whet your appetite...)

At the book signing over the weekend, my fellow authors and I talked about our writing goals for 2014 - because the best marketing is always to write your next story. What are my plans for the new year? Well, besides seeing Inferno of Love on the cyber and print shelves in January, I hope to release my "Cocktail Cruise" trilogy, 3 novellas set in and around a Caribbean cruise ship. I also hope to fine-tune my Young Adult novel and send it out to editors and agents, and maybe start a new project that's been simmering in the back of my mind. (Actually, I have a few of those...will have to decide which simmering project I'll bring to a full boil).

So there you have it! What are your writing goals for 2014?

Monday Mentionables: What Women Want

A great big thank-you to everyone who came out and supported the vendors (including Yours Truly!) at yesterday's What Women Want shopping extravaganza!

What's even better than signing and selling a few books at an event like this one? Meeting other local business women and entrepreneurs who are more than willing to connect and share other marketing opportunities. When I got home from yesterday's event, I had 3 new Facebook friends and messages. Gotta love networking ~ as popular and widespread as social media sites are, don't ever underestimate the power of talking to people in person. You never know who you'll reach that way!

Friday Fun Facts: Time to Shop!

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Or, now, a Gray Thursday shopper? Or don't you bother with the crowds around Thanksgiving time at all? My husband and I used to get up early, strategy map planned and flyers in hand, and hit the stores before dawn on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We continue to do that, even though many stored opened Thursday night, but the crowds on Friday morning aren't anything like they used to be. It makes me sad, that so many consumers are supporting the stores that open on a holiday, rather than spend the time with their families. Oh, well.

Speaking of shopping, if you're in the New Windsor, NY, area this Sunday, stop by the What Women Want shopping event at the New Windsor Hilton. Great chance to pick up holiday gifts, treat yourself, and support Safe Homes of Orange County. I and two fellow Hudson Valley authors will be there, at the Naughty and Nice Romance table. For more information, click on the picture below!

Happy (Almost) Thanksgiving!

Since I won't be blogging tomorrow, I want to wish all of you here in the United States a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am most thankful for my family, my health, my good friends, and the wonderful readers and fans I have discovered over the last 7 years of my writing journey. I can't wait to see what 2014 brings all of us!

 

Monday Mentionables: What Women Want!

Happy Monday, everyone! Just wanted to mention that I'll be a featured vendor at the What Women Want extravaganza in New Windsor, NY, this-coming Sunday, Dec. 1st! Looks like it will be a great afternoon for shopping, and admission is only $10 + a new toy that will go directly to Safe Homes of Orange County. For all the details, click on the poster below!

Writers' Wednesday: Writing Workshops in Brief

As I promised, here are the highlights of the workshops I attended at last weekend's Master Class writing retreat!

Hooking the Reader: Discussion centered on a story's first page, and what it needs to accomplish. Most important, what details of character and setting emerge? What kind of story is it (what genre)? What hints are placed about the character or plot?

The Heart of the Matter: Talked all about theme. We had to do a pretty thoughtful homework assignment in preparation for this workshop: write the "elevator pitch" (a quick, compelling description of your story), write a 2-sentence summary, write the theme in a few words, write the back cover copy. At the end of it, decide what the "heart" of your book really is. Keep this in front of you all the time that you're writing and revising this story. Remember what is most crucial to this story. Put that on every page or in every chapter.

Plot and Pacing: I loved this one. Write down the 5 most important things that happen in your story. Then look at Freytag's Pyramid, which describes the Inciting Incident (what starts the action/conflict in a story), the rising action (increasing conflicts or tension), the climax, the falling action, and the denouement (final wrap up of all loose ends). Then go back to your 5 important things. Ultimately, they should match the different points of the Pyramid. If they don't, what part(s) of your plot might be missing? The editor giving this workshop also showed a very explicit breakdown of different popular books and how the action rises and leads to a powerful climax and ending.

Character: Use the Myers-Briggs (or any other psychological test) to assess your characters and draw out their strengths, weaknesses, flaws, & tendencies. You can also use the results to see how well you really know your characters. You might think you're writing a strong alpha male hero, but look at his actions & interactions in terms of one of these psychological tests - what other actions could you give him to strengthen the way he comes across to the reader? Do you truly know how he's coming across?

Happy writing, friends!

Monday Mentionables: A Writers' Retreat in Review

I'm back from my writers' retreat in the very remote and beautiful location of Silver Bay, New York! It was a fantastic and very intense 36 hours of writing work, and it definitely stretched my boundaries as a writer. Here was my view first thing each morning:

And here was the Inn, where we stayed and socialized and had readings:

Saturday afternoon, we all had 25 minute in-depth critiques of the first 20 pages of the manuscript we had sent in, back in the summer, to be considered for acceptance to the conference. 5 editors from high-powered NYC publishing houses attended; my session was with the very gregarious and very knowledgeable Katherine Jacobs, who's with Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan. Since the weather was so nice, she decided to do her critiques outside rather than inside, so we sat on the Inn's porch in rocking chairs and ate chocolate (she brought) and talked plot, theme and character. Really, it was a writer's dream:

The 35 of us attended workshops on Opening Pages, Getting to the Heart of the Matter (Theme), Plot & pacing, Character Development, and Publishing Myths. We also spent Saturday morning in small groups of 7, reading and critiquing each other's pages. I gained so much from the experience, even though it definitely took me out of my comfort zone. Going to this retreat without knowing anyone else forced me to sit with others at meals, share my work with people I had never met before, and talk about my book over and over again - which in itself really helped shape the story.

By the end of the weekend, I was both star-struck and exhausted. Some of the writers who attended were powerhouses, award-winners with multiple hardcover books under their belts, agents, and publishing contracts that lead well into 2020 (check out Sarah Albee, Kathleen Duble, Alison Ashley Formento, & Kristi Roberts, among others. Fun fact: if you click on The Benevolent Society on Kristi's website, you'll see the chapter she read and we critiqued on Saturday morning in our small group). Also of note: Editor Kathy Dawson was there too ~ she's an executive editor with Penguin who's starting up her own imprint in 2014 - talk about the opportunity to meet with someone who's a leading figure in the publishing industry!

I came away from this retreat ready to tackle the revisions of my YA novel and very aware of the WORK that goes into being a truly successful published author. I definitely recommend attending a retreat, workshop, conference, speech, or class to re-energize your own writing and to always, always keep learning and aspiring for more and better.

On Wednesday, I'll share the specific work we did in our workshops, passing along some of the great information I came away with. See you back here then!

Friday Fun Facts: Preparing for a Writers' Conference

So I'm off this weekend for the Eastern NY SCBWI Falling Leaves Master Retreat - and I'm pretty excited (and a little nervous too), because I'll be spending the weekend with a variety of other published authors and NYC editors. We had to submit a writing sample back in the summer to be accepted, and we've been assigned actual homework (!) to prepare for our writing work this weekend. I expect it to be an intensive discussion of Young Adult novel writing, and I'm hoping to get a lot out of it. I've been to a few other writers' conferences and am trying to use my previous experiences to prepare:

~Be open to meeting new people. All kinds of people attend conferences, at all different points in their writing careers. There's always someone else to learn from, and someone else who wants to learn from you. Be frank, kind, and polite when talking to other writers.

~Be prepared to talk about your work. For almost every homework assignment, I had to prepare an "elevator pitch" of my novel - the 1-2 sentence description of my book I could chat up while riding in an elevator with an editor/agent/colleague. Always be prepared to talk about your work (and why it's brilliant!) in a succinct, interesting fashion,

~Take breaks when necessary. I've found that sometimes, writers' conferences can be overwhelming and exhausting. It's good for me to take breaks every so often to recharge, in my hotel room or even a quiet corner of the lobby. Staying well hydrated and snacking when needed is key too.

~Be tough. If you're attending a critique session or otherwise sharing your work, be ready for and open to constructive criticism. Remember that, like readers and reviewers, some people will respond positively to your work, and some might not. Take in everyone's opinions, and then go home and mull over which are solid criticisms that you can use to make your writing better.

~Look forward to learning more about the trade. This is the time to soak in everything you can from other people who are working in the industry. Ask questions, attend as many sessions as you can, and take notes.

~Be inspired! I hope to come away from this weekend knowing more about the YA novel-writing industry. I also hope to get some feedback on my own project and, maybe, make some connections with other writers and editors in the genre. Incidentally, here are the 5 editors that will be working with us this weekend:

Aubrey Poole, Associate Editor at Sourcebooks
Mallory Kass, Editor at Scholastic Books
Katherine Jacobs, Editor at Roaring Book Press
Kathy Dawson of Kathy Dawson Books, imprint at Penguin Young Readers
Michelle Poploff, Executive Editor at Delacorte Books (division of Random House)

I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Writers' Wednesday: Beacon of Love Now Available in Print!

Exciting news! Beacon of Love is now available in print! This is your chance to read the first book in the Hometown Heroes series, before Inferno of Love comes out in January. Beacon of Love has 4+ stars on Amazon, and reviewers have called it "a tale of intrigue and suspense, of the past colliding with the future, of loved ones lost and new love taking root" and "a romantic mystery that captures your attention right from the beginning."

Enjoy!

Monday Mentionables: A Veterans' Day Remembrance

Happy Veterans' Day, everyone! Thank you to everyone who has served this country and who keeps us safe.

"Nov. 11, 1918 was the day the guns fell silent at the end of the Great War."

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

 

 

Writers' Wednesday: It's Time for a Cover Reveal!

OK folks, I was going to wait until next month, but I figured what the heck? It's November, there's a chill in the air, Daylight Savings Time means it now gets dark before 5:00....so that means we need some heat, right?

Drum roll....here's the fabulous cover for my upcoming release, Inferno of Love. What do you think?

(P.S. - If you want to read the blurb, it was featured here last week. Take a peek!)

Monday Mentionables: Happy Thoughts for a Monday

Writers' Wednesday: Introducing Inferno of Love!

Well, I'm working on the final edits for Inferno of Love, which should have an early 2014 release date. Are you excited?? I am. Here's a draft of the blurb - it might be tweaked between now and release time, but it'll give you an idea of what you can expect from the second story in the Hometown Heroes stories of Lindsey Point:

What happens when your soul mate returns after twelve long years – and has no idea who you are?

Aubrey Anderson is a pediatric occupational therapist who’s spent the last twelve years rebuilding her life after a car accident killed her boyfriend and crushed her legs. A series of strokes on the way to the hospital left her with no memory of either the accident or the weeks leading up to it, so when she starts having nightmares she can’t explain, she decides to return to the scene to see if she can piece together her past.

Finn Cavallo is Lindsey Point's resident playboy, owner of a popular bar, and hero of the Cove Fire, when he pulled seven people from a burning building twelve years earlier. But his flirtatious personality hides the heart of a man who lost his soul mate the night of the fire. When Aubrey walks into his bar with no memory of who he is or what they had, he’s stunned – and it takes everything he has not to tell her about the summer they spent falling in love.

It's only a matter of time before bar conversation turns to passion on the beach and more. But when a series of events raises suspicion that Finn himself might have started the Cove Fire, Aubrey is forced to do whatever she can to discover the truth about both their pasts, including going back to the spot where it all began...

Stay tuned! Over the next couple of months, I'll be posting excerpts, teasers, and the official cover right here on Wednesdays - with chance for you to win fun stuff! Hope you'll join me :)

Monday Mentionables: Beacon of Love is Releasing in Print!

Exciting news this morning, folks: my recent digital release, Beacon of Love, will be available in print this November! Stay tuned for the exact date, price, and all the details!

Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends.

Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.

Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa... Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.

But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.

CONTENT WARNING: Contains one barb-slinging travel show host, one hunky handyman who knows exactly how to use his tools, and a small town brimming with secrets...

5-STARS
"The connection between Lucas and Sophie is amazing and the power they have over each other is remarkable...Beacon of Love was an amazing tale of a small town with a hot romance built into it. It tested beliefs, friendship and faith. This book gave me everything a great read could give. It had the romance, mystery, suspense and hot handy man all wrapped into one and I loved it!" —5-Star Amazon Review

"Beacon of Love has likable characters, lively dialogue and a local mystery which needs to be solved. Well paced with just the right amount of humor, I found myself turning the pages to see just what was going to happen next...the scenes between Sophie and Lucas are fun, light and full of sexual tension..." —Queen of the Night Reviews

4-STARS
"I really enjoyed the premises of this story. True love...Secrets....New Love....Wonderful!" —4-Star Amazon Review

"Beacon of Love by Allie Boniface was the perfect slice of heaven for me! Not only did we get a nice romance, but we also got to dig into an old mystery and try to solve a 50 year-old murder..." —Romance Addict Book Blog

Friday Fun Facts: Why I'm in Love with Nashville

So fall television has started...with mixed reviews, I hear. CBS has already shuffled shows around (and canceled some). Hubby and I have tried a few of the new sitcoms, but I can't say I'm loving any of them.

Mom - the subject matter of a single mother who's openly cheating with her married boss (and that's just the beginning of the dysfunction), doesn't reach humor even though it tries with the daughter-sneaking-around-and-then-getting-pregnant plotline or the estranged-mother-of-central-character-reappears-in-therapy-and-tries-to-make-nice plotline.

The Crazy Ones - It certainly has promise with Robin Williams as a main character, and I'd probably watch it just to see what he does. But Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't work for me as the put-upon working daughter trying to save her father's totally ambitious but floundering career in advertising.

The Millers - Couldn't make it past the first five minutes. The whole premise of a newly divorced middle-aged man moving in with his newly divorced parents (who apparently still live together) tries to rest on a lot of raunchy humor. But, um, no. Didn't work for me.

So what do we watch in this house? Hubby loves his reality TV, especially Duck Dynasty (it has its moments, but I have yet to watch an entire episode), Pawn Stars, and American Pickers. I will say the history of both those shows is kind of cool. We do watch Survivor religiously (we haven't missed an episode in 27 seasons), always entertained and fascinated by the personalities thrown together on the island and how they interact - or don't.

We tune into The Big Bang Theory and Two Broke Girls for laughs and Person of Interest and The Mentalist for drama/who-dun-it mysteries.

But my latest addiction is the very soapy Wednesday night drama Nashville. Anyone else watch it? Yes it's campy, yes it's far-fetched, and yes it pulls out every possible plot contrivance. But something about it has drawn me in. Perhaps it's the characters and the way they are continually tormented by the next  thing that can go wrong. (Among other things, the season 1 finale featured an alcohol-fueled car crash, a surprise pregnancy, an in-the-closet-out-of-the-closet gay character, a marriage proposal, and a mother's suicide to protect her celebrity daughter from a sex tape scandal. Told you it was soapy!)

Perhaps it's the actors themselves: Hayden Panetierre, Connie Britton, and Charles Esten are simply captivating on screen (and easy on the eyes).  Perhaps it's the music, original country songs written for every episode that just ooze angst and heartache and hope. All together, there's really nothing about Nashville I don't like. And getting attached to the characters and watching the way the writers create captivating story lines has influenced my own writing as well.

So what about you? What do you watch?

Writers' Wednesday: Story Ideas are Everywhere

While I was getting a manicure over the weekend (in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month - do you like it?), the nail tech and I got to talking. She asked the inevitable question: where do you get your ideas? And I told her, as I usually do, that all I have to do is read the paper or turn on the news. Case in point, headlines from the last couple of weeks that got me thinking:

Family Friend Arrested After Teacher Finds Pot in 3-Year Old's Backpack

Massive Hunt for Missing Autistic Boy in NYC

Hawaii Surfer Throws Punches to Escape Shark

Groom Who Halted Own Wedding with Bomb Threat Jailed

In fact, here's a great website that collects these kinds of headlines. If you're a writer and you're stuck for ideas, get to browsing. It's crazy what a true-life story might inspire in your own fiction!